Local family shattered by immigration crackdown

Moussa Mahaman, of Clintonville, was deported to Niger last week. Following an executive order by the Trump administration, authorities are aggressively cracking down on those who are in the country illegally.

CLINTONVILLE | Moussa Mahaman and Aisha Stanyon first bonded over their shared love of music.

Over time, their lives became increasingly entwined as they forged a homestead in the mountains.

The land in the Adirondacks is tough and unforgiving terrain that requires mutual support, love and trust to till.

They found that in each other.

The relationship was a fresh start for both of them.

Stanyon, 69, had left a bad marriage after 28 years.

Mahaman, a Niger national, was looking for someone to share his life with between gigs at St. Nick’s in Greenwich Village, where he played bass into the wee hours for raucous midnight revelers.

They met through an online dating service.

For the retired Au Sable Forks Elementary music teacher, the attraction wasn’t immediate. But their friendship blossomed into love as Mahaman gradually revealed more and more of his character.

“This guy is extremely intelligent and extremely nice,” Stanyon said. “He was very unusual in his kindness and respect, which I had never experienced before.”

Stanyon began taking the Greyhound to New York City on the weekends to watch him perform.

Lora Kluwe noted a change in her friend after she met the musician.

“She’s so much happier when before she met Moussa,” said Kluwe. “She’s been happy ever since.”

They fell in love.

Mahaman was happy to have a family in his adopted homeland. He quickly became a father to Stanyon’s four adult children, as well as a grandfather.

Photo provided

Mahaman married Aisha Stanyon, a retired music teacher, in 2011.

The pair married in April 2011.

“My marriage to Moussa healed our family in so many ways,” Stanyon said. “He’s so calm, he’s so grounded.”

But their bucolic existence in Clintonville, located 23 minutes south of Plattsburgh, was shattered when Mahaman was detained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Nov. 1 during a routine check-in at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s station in Champlain.

Three weeks later, just days before Thanksgiving, he was deported to Niger.

“I haven’t heard from him today,” said Stanyon last Wednesday. “We will try to bring him back, but it could take two or more years.”

MASS DEPORTATION FORCE

Mahaman, 54, is just one of the foreign nationals who has been ensnared in immigration policies that have been aggressively tightened and enforced under the Trump administration.

While authorities once looked the other way when it came to law-abiding foreign nationals who were in the country illegally, an executive order signed by the president in February granted broad authority to arrest and deport violators.

“The (U.S. Department of Homeland Security) no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement,” wrote then-Secretary John Kelly in a memo dated Feb. 20. “In faithfully executing the immigration laws, department personnel should take enforcement actions in accordance with applicable law.”

The order does not include so-called Dreamers — individuals who came to the U.S. illegally as children — or parents of American citizens.

To achieve the goal, Kelly directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hire 10,000 officers and agents to “expeditiously, subject to available resources, take enforcement actions consistent with available resources.”

“The administration is fully implementing the mass deportation agenda,” said Laura Lynch, a senior policy associate with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

The executive order, Lynch said, made it clear anyone in the U.S. who is undocumented could be deported regardless of their criminal history.

“ICE officers are required to arrest anyone out of status as required,” Lynch said. “Many individuals who have been law-abiding citizens for years are being subjected to this mass deportation force.”

LONG ODYSSEY

Mahaman’s detainment wasn’t entirely unexpected, and he’d been dealing with slow-burning issues over his legal status for years.

He originally came to the U.S. in 2003, entering legally on an entertainer’s visa. But he admittedly overstayed, citing political reasons.

The soft-spoken musician had reason to be fearful: His father was the former mayor of Niamey, Niger’s capital. After a military coup d’etat, he was persecuted and jailed.

“He had written a song criticizing the government that was widely played throughout West Africa and particularly in Niger,” wrote Stanyon in a letter to federal immigration authorities. “The reaction of the government towards the song was hostile and Moussa’s life was threatened.”

Mahaman, who has no criminal record, first drew the attention of immigration authorities in 2006, and ICE ordered him to leave in 2008.

He agreed to self-deport. But Niger officials wouldn’t renew his passport, a measure necessary for him to travel, Stanyon said.

Mahaman was detained in 2010 at a security checkpoint in North Hudson, and deportation proceedings were staved off with a plea for political asylum.

“This was ultimately denied even though the current Niger regime consisted of the same people who had persecuted his father,” Stanyon said.

But he was released after six months on the condition he continue to try to receive travel documents.

“Mahaman couldn’t get a passport, although he tried numerous times to cooperate,” said Cheryl David, his lawyer.

Documents were sent to Niger, but were not returned.

“He wrote emails, he called — he did not get it,” Stanyon said.

After two trips to the Embassy of Niger in Washington, D.C. failed to produce a passport, the family opted to retain the services of a Philadelphia-based lawyer.

They were swindled.

“Fake documents were even sent to us to make it look like materials had been sent to the court,” Stanyon said. “We wasted all of that time.”

Mahaman was placed under supervision and was asked to routinely check in with authorities in Champlain every six months, a timeframe that was eventually shortened to three.

And he did so faithfully, said Stanyon.

“He did everything they wanted him to do,” she said.

Photo provided

Mahaman has been described by those who know him as a loving family man, hard-working employee and asset to the community.

Through it all, Mahaman continued to work at Mold Rite Plastics in Plattsburgh, and was a dedicated family man by the account of a half-dozen friends interviewed for this story.

“To me, he was always an honest guy,” said Rich Cusumano, a neighbor.

Despite his legal troubles, Mahaman remained a calm, comforting presence — even when the crises piled up.

Lukas Carter, his stepson, remembers when he rescued animals following Hurricane Irene, and rehabilitated the yard and farm structures damaged by the storm.

And he was there when Stanyon was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Without a change in beat, Moussa took his place as the family’s captain, calmly steering my mom and us into a collective positive mind-state, keeping hope alive and despair at bay,” Carter wrote in a letter to authorities.

Carter and his brother were living in California at the time.

“Knowing my mother had someone to care for her on a daily basis was a blessing,” he said. “I know that not just his physical support, but his steadfast faith, spiritual strength and positive mentality got my mother through this horrific ordeal. I am beyond thankful that Moussa is in my mother’s life.”

BIG IMPACT

The Trump administration has branded the crackdown as a return to law and order.

Elizabeth Cohen, an associate professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, said not only are deportations harmful to families, but are also disruptive to the labor force and economy.

Once the labor force is disrupted, industries tend to automate, then shrink.

What does not happen, however, is a rise in income for native-born workers, she said.

Industries that cannot automate will lobby for more short-term visas, Cohen said. But foreign nationals tend to overstay because the need doesn’t go away, and neither does the interest of those who want to come to the U.S. to work.

“If their status was adjusted, it is likely their impact on the economy would be even greater,” Cohen said.

Deportations are also expensive, with costs to find and deport a single undocumented immigrant clocking in at $12,000.

“I fail to see the upside,” she said.

Exact numbers on how many foreign nationals have been rounded up and deported under the crackdown are unavailable.

But the Immigrant Defense Project, a New York City-based nonprofit, has been working with attorneys and advocates to compile statistics and trends detailing arrests and attempted arrests in courthouses across the state.

In 2016, there were 11 reports of ICE arrests and attempted arrests in courthouses statewide.

There have been 110 reports in 2017 to-date — a nearly 900 percent increase.

Twenty percent of the immigrants ICE arrested this year had no prior criminal convictions, the Daily News first reported last week.

Arrests have also occurred at family court and at routine appearances for traffic violations.

Before the shift, ICE officers had prosecutorial discretion, said David Gervais, a Quebec and Plattsburgh-based attorney who specializes in immigration law.

But that no longer exists, and Gervais said he now sees ICE agents showing up regularly at routine court hearings in Plattsburgh.

Federal agents are also being notified earlier when foreign nationals get into legal trouble on low-level offenses, including misdemeanors and violations.

A decade ago, it took weeks or months before authorities were informed, he said. Now, ICE will be made aware and immigrants will be put on an immigration detainer within 24 hours.

Immigration lawyers, said Gervais, have been caught flat-footed by the changes.

Under past administrations, the AILA was notified by federal authorities so they could weigh in with comments and considerations.

“Now, it’s, ‘Oh, by the way, we changed the law yesterday — good luck adjusting,’” Gervais said. “It’s turned into a rigid, cold heartless enforcement of immigration rules in which I’ve never seen before.”

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

Stanyon didn’t let Mahaman didn’t go without a fight.

David, the lawyer, filed an emergency stay of removal to reopen the case earlier this month.

And she kept hope alive until the last minute.

Thanksgiving was dark for the family.

Mahaman could return to the U.S. on a tourist visa, but the process could take 2 or 3 years, Stanyon said.

Kluwe, the family friend, despaired for her friends.

“I think Aisha would be really lost without him,” she said. “We want to see him with us again, laughing and singing and playing guitar again. There’s so much love in this family and it’s heartbreaking.”

Jala Alloggio, his step-daughter, described the impact on her son Isaiah, who is two.

The first words of out Isaiah’s mouth when they arrive at the family home is, “Baba, Baba,” Alloggio wrote in a letter to authorities.

He would run from the car past Stanyon and right into his grandfather’s arms.

From there, they would play continuously all day long.

“Now he is still calling for his Baba, but Baba is not here,” Alloggio wrote. “It is heartbreaking. Isaiah does not understand why his Baba is no longer with us.”

Comments (2)

immigration

Illegal means it is against the law.You want to help these people out? Sell your house give them everything you have.Then you can sign up for welfare

deforest340 days ago

Pulled heart strings? Check.

What a heartbreaking, sad tale. Truly, violating the law should be allowed in this case, because it is so sad. Hopefully ICE will be following up with Mold Rite Plastics to see how many other illegals they employ. I'm sure the proper authorities will be contacting Ms. Stanyon about harboring a known illegal. If you don't break the law, you don't fear it. Don't speed? You don't get speeding tickets. Pay your taxes? You don't get arrested for tax evasion. Knowingly live in the US illegally? You get deported.